An overview on activation of aluminium-water reaction for enhanced hydrogen production

Hydrogen generation from cost-effective and easily available sources is essential to commercialize proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The production of hydrogen from aluminium (Al) with suitable reducing agents such as water, NaBH4, and formic acid is an economically attractive technique. Ho...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of alloys and compounds 2020-09, Vol.835, p.155189, Article 155189
Main Authors: Kumar, Debashree, Muthukumar, Karuppan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activation
Aluminium
Aluminum chloride
Aluminum oxide
Ball milling
Carbon nanotubes
Comminution
Copper
Economic analysis
Formic acid
Gallium
Hydrogen
Hydrogen production
Mercury (metal)
Oxide coatings
PEM fuel Cell
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells
Reducing agents
Size reduction
Tin
Titanium dioxide
Water
Zinc
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Hydrogen generation from cost-effective and easily available sources is essential to commercialize proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The production of hydrogen from aluminium (Al) with suitable reducing agents such as water, NaBH4, and formic acid is an economically attractive technique. However, the oxide film formed on Al affects the efficiency significantly. In this review, Al activation mechanisms reported for better hydrogen production from water were discussed at length and analyzed critically. The addition of salts (NaCl/KCl, CaO, Al2O3, TiO2, AlCl3, Al(OH)3) and metals (Bi, Zn, Cu, Ga, In, Sn) was found to improve the Al reactivity. Al particle size reduction by ball milling in the presence of salts, addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), alloying with metals and amalgamation with zinc/mercury were also found to improve the reaction yield. Finally, the economic analysis of important activation methods was done and future prospects were discussed. •Aluminium activation methods to prevent the oxide film formation were reviewed.•Effect of salts, alloys, additives, particle size and amalgamation on activation was discussed.•The challenges associated with hydrogen production from Al are outlined.
ISSN:0925-8388
1873-4669
DOI:10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.155189